GREATER ACCESS TO POSTAL SERVICES

A further five highly popular self-service Pay and Post kiosks are being introduced into the local community, in a bid to give customers greater access and choice of location for transacting their postal business.

Additional kiosks will be housed in Shoprite stores in Ramsey, Port Erin and Derby Road in Peel as well as the Sea Terminal, Station Garage, Castletown and the new Customer Services Centre at Postal Headquarters which opens on December 3. This expansion continues Isle of Man Post Office’s strategy to increase the availability of postal services beyond that of the normal Post Office retail network opening hours.

Marty Quine, General Manager Retail Network, Isle of Man Post Office said: “The locations we have chosen reflect the areas where we felt there was a need for additional outlets for postal services. I believe these will be convenient to customers who struggle to find the time to visit a post office during the normal working hours to buy stamps, post parcels and pay bills. Each of the new kiosk sites have early morning and late night opening hours, giving customers flexibility in the time they choose to transact their postal business.”

Meanwhile the Pay & Post kiosk which was installed in the Crosby Hotel in March last year has seen very little customer usage and is not proving commercially viable in this venue. Therefore the kiosk has been withdrawn from the Crosby Hotel and placed in one of the above locations.

Geoff Corkish MBE MHK, Chairman of Isle of Man Post Office said: “We appreciate the withdrawal of the kiosk will be disappointing news to the small number of customers in the Crosby area who did find the postal kiosk convenient and we apologise for any inconvenience it will cause. However, we have to relocate the kiosk in order that it is more cost-effective in terms of revenue for the business. We have consulted with the Member for Middle Howard Quayle MHK and Marown Commissioners explaining our reasons for this move and appreciate their understanding; however the kiosk in this location was heavily underutilised.” 

The kiosks enable customers to weigh, stamp and pay for packages to be posted quickly and efficiently, using a simple touch screen device. As well as the postal capabilities, customers can also pay their electricity, gas, phone bills and government rates through the machines.

Marty Quine said: “We are always keen to receive any feedback from customers about their experience of using the kiosks and an exit poll will be conducted at all the new locations and existing ones, in order to gauge customer feedback about the kiosks, how easy they are to use, their overall experience and whether they would use them again. Customers will also have the opportunity to add any further comments in order that we can continue to improve the standard of service we deliver. All participants who take part in the exit poll no later than December 31 will be entered into our prize draw to win an Isle of Man Post Office Yearbook 2012.”

Pay & Post kiosks were first introduced into the Island in August 2010 in Regent Street Post Office, following a response to customers’ desires to have self-service weighing positions, reduced queuing times and provide quick and simple service to purchase stamps, weigh and pay for letters and parcels and pay utility bills. Following their introduction, kiosks were also placed in Shoprite, Victoria Road, Douglas and the Wessex Garage, Alexander Drive, Douglas. The kiosks have been an overwhelming success with customers praising the out of hours access to postal services and their simplicity to use.

Isle of Man Post Office has continued its relationship with Integrex, one of the UK’s foremost providers of electronic and IT solutions to the retail sectors and the Escher Group, a leading provider of distributed messaging and data management solutions and services to introduce these additional kiosks. 

 

POST OFFICE HELPS HERITAGE TRUST TO REBUILD HISTORY

A project to help bring back to life mail vans that traditionally transported mail between Douglas and Ramsey on the Manx Electric Railway (MER) is well underway, thanks to funding from the Isle of Man Post Office Sponsorship Committee.

For some seventy years, until 1975, the MER carried bagged mail between Douglas and Ramsey in special four wheeled rail vans. A unique feature of the service was that the MER conductors were also enrolled as postmen to collect mail from post boxes, located at a number of the small stations and halts along the line.

The Laxey & Lonan Heritage Trust have reached agreement with Isle of Man Transport to restore two of the mail vans which are no longer used by the MER and are now undertaking a three-year project to revamp the railway yard, located next to the Laxey Manx Electric Railway Station. For the past 20 years, the yard has been used to display a number of the Trust’s agricultural items but will now be refurbished with an exhibition commemorating the MER’s mail service.

Andrew Scarffe, of the Laxey & Lonan Heritage Trust said: “We are very pleased indeed that Isle of Man Post Office has agreed to be the main sponsor of this project. The Post Office had close connections with the Manx Electric Railway shortly after the line was opened and it is very fitting indeed that this connection has once again been made. Their sponsorship has given us the confidence that the restoration project can now be completed within the next three years, as we had originally hoped.”

Other work will include the construction of a replica line side post box, the restoration of a typical line side shelter and an exhibition of associated items in the area of the adjacent goods shed, which is currently under the control of the Trust.

Geoff Corkish MBE MHK, Chairman of Isle of Man Post Office said: “We are pleased to be involved with this project which is very much linked to the history of the Post Office. This is a superb restoration and once the overall project is completed it will create a fabulous open-air style museum for residents and visitors of the village where the history of the MER’s involvement with postal services in years gone by will be illustrated.”

The Laxey and Lonan Heritage are seeking suitable illustrations of the MER mail service and any other artefacts to use at the exhibition. The Trust would particularly like to hear from anyone who may have any photographs of MER conductors emptying the line side mail boxes. Please contact Andrew Scarffe on 307563 or thescarffes@manx.net.

The Island Meets The City

The Island Meets City - L to R Dot Tilbury, Chief Minister Allan Bell, Lord Mayor Alderman David Wootton and Geoff Corkish MHK.

During his recent visit to the Island, to promote good relations between the Isle of Man and the City of London, Lord Mayor Alderman David Wootton met with IOM Stamps & Coins Manager Dot Tilbury, Chief Minister Alan Bell and Geoff Corkish MHK (Chairman of the IOM Post Office).
The Lord Mayor believed the partnership between the Isle of Man and the City would be crucial in helping to create wealth and economic well-being. For the UK and the City he shared Chief Minister Allan Bell’s vision for the Isle of Man of maintaining a prosperous and caring society based on fairness, opportunity for all, social cohesion and quality of life.

‘We are both small in size – but punch well above our weight in the global economy. We can be justly proud of the standards and governance we demand. And we are also well placed and well able to meet the challenges of the future – and play our part in creating jobs and growth.’

We, at IOM Stamps & Coins, feel that we “punch well above our weight” in the global stamp world and were pleased to present Alderman Wootton with a framed collection of our London 2012 Olympic Games stamps designed by Sir Paul Smith. He received the collection enthusiastically, praising their high quality of design and print and his belief that they stood a very good chance of being the best Olympic product of the year!